Charles Leclerc has apportioned most of the blame for his race-ending crash to Kimi Antonelli, rather than Oscar Piastri. The McLaren driver made contact with the Mercedes rookie, who then tagged the Monegasque racer, causing the Monegasque racer to spin out and incur terminal damage.
Leclerc enjoyed a strong qualifying result on Saturday and started third on the grid behind eventual race-winner Lando Norris and Antonelli. However, things came undone after an early safety car restart when Piastri, who was running fourth, attempted a bold three-wide move at Turn One.
The Australian got his car close alongside Antonelli’s, but the Italian took a narrow line into the corner, triggering contact on his left-rear tyre. This sent him across the track and into the side of Leclerc. After a brief investigation, the stewards slapped Piastri with a 10-second time penalty.
Leclerc disagreed with that ruling, though. “Oscar was optimistic, but Kimi knew that Oscar was on the inside, I think, and he kind of did the corner like Oscar was never there,” the Ferrari star told Sky Sports F1, giving his account of the incident.
“For me, the blame is not all on Oscar. Yes, it was optimistic, but this could have been avoided. I’m frustrated. At the end of the day, I’m not angry with any of Oscar or Kimi – these things happen. But I wouldn’t go as far as saying it is all Oscar’s fault, I don’t think it is.”
Piastri also raised a similar point, expressing his frustration with the lack of room afforded to him by the rookie Antonelli. “No, I don’t think so,” he replied when asked if he would change his decision to make the move on reflection.
“I had a very clear opportunity, I went for it. The other two on the outside braked quite late, and yeah, there was obviously a bit of a lock-up into the corner, but that was because I could see Kimi wasn’t going to give me any space. I can’t disappear, but the decision is what it is.”
For Piastri, the consequences were disastrous. The 24-year-old found himself mired back in traffic after serving his penalty and crossed the line in fifth place, losing another 15 places to team-mate Norris, who completed a Brazilian Grand Prix sweep on Sunday.
The Aussie, who crashed out of Saturday’s sprint race while his McLaren team-mate went on to win, is now 24 points behind Norris heading into the season-ending triple header in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
